real.. important SPACE news

[sky otter]

Beam Him Up ... An Award! William Shatner Gets Top NASA Nod


NASA saluted Captain Kirk over the weekend, giving William Shatner the Distinguished Public Service medal, the space agency's highest award for civilians.

The 83-year-old Canadian actor played Captain James Tiberius Kirk, one of TV's most beloved space pioneers, who commanded the starship USS Enterprise in NBC's "Star Trek" from 1966 to 1969. In real life, Shatner has been a vocal advocate of science education and space exploration.
William Shatner is presented with NASA's Distinguished Public Service medal by Bob Jacobs, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator, Communications, on April 26, 2014.


"William Shatner has been so generous with his time and energy in encouraging students to study science and math, and for inspiring generations of explorers, including many of the astronauts and engineers who are a part of NASA today," David Weaver, NASA's associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. [William Shatner's Twitter Chat with Astronaut in Pictures]

"He's most deserving of this prestigious award," Weaver added.

Shatner accepted the honor Saturday evening in Los Angeles at his Hollywood Charity Horse Show, an annual event in which he raises money for children's causes, NASA officials said.

According to the medal's citation, Shatner was honored for "outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery."

NASA and the Star Trek franchise forged a mutual admiration society a long time ago. References to NASA and its programs were written into Star Trek storylines throughout the TV series and films. Originally called Constitution, NASA's space shuttle prototype was named Enterprise in honor of Star Trek.

Shatner has been more than happy to be an informal spokesman for NASA, especially in recent years. In 2011, Shatner beamed a wakeup call that recreated his "Star Trek" introduction to NASA astronauts working on the shuttle mission, STS-133, the final flight of the shuttle Discovery. The next year, he recorded a message for the real-life spacemen living aboard the International Space Station. And to help drum up excitement for NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, Shatner narrated a video about the robot that was released just a week before it landed on the Red Planet in 2012.

Shatner has also supported his home country's smaller space agency; last year, he traded tweets with astronaut Chris Hadfield, Canada's first space station commander.

- Megan Gannon, Space.com
Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @SPACEdotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.



http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/beam-him-award-william-shatner-gets-top-nasa-nod-n92726

[sky otter]

only to be followed by:



http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=864641

'Star Wars: Episode VII' cast revealed:

Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, John Boyega and more
April 29, 2014, 12:39 PM EST
By Jeff Sneider
TheWrap
At long last, Disney, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams have unveiled the cast of "Star Wars: Episode VII." Original stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker will be joined by Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow.

"We are so excited to finally share the cast of 'Star Wars: Episode VII.' It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud," said Abrams.


The confidential casting process has been shrouded in secrecy from the start, with Disney denying as many speculative rumors as the blogosphere could turn out.

Several actors saw their media profiles rise by the mere suggestion they were in the running for a coveted role in the new "Star Wars," even if they were never really in the mix. After all, the filmmakers auditioned thousands of actors around the globe, with everyone chomping at the bit to be a part of the high-profile project.

Also from TheWrap: New 'Star Wars' Trilogy Has No Ties to Expanded Universe, Lucasfilm Confirms

Abrams is directing from a script he wrote with Lawrence Kasdan, who penned "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return of the Jedi."

Photos: '80s starlets: Where are they now?

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is producing with Bad Robot's Abrams and Bryan Burk, while Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin will serve as executive producers. John Williams will return to score "Episode VII."

Disney is scheduled to release "Star Wars: Episode VII" on Dec. 18, 2015.

More from TheWrap: 'Star Wars' Plot Details Revealed: Episode VII Will Take Place 30 Years After 'Jedi'

[zorgon]

Hollywood...

...the only REAL space program

[The Seeker]

Isn't it amazing how many gadgets we have today that were inspired by 'Star Trek' such as the hand held communicator( flip cell phone) the tri-corder ( computer tablets) and I wouldn't doubt that somewhere squirreled away is the phaser...

along with the photon torpedoes and the dylithium crystals...


seeker

[ArMaP]

Isn't it amazing how many gadgets we have today that were inspired by 'Star Trek' such as the hand held communicator( flip cell phone) the tri-corder ( computer tablets) and I wouldn't doubt that somewhere squirreled away is the phaser...

along with the photon torpedoes and the dylithium crystals...

I don't think it's amazing, as all the things that are created by human hands start by being created by human minds.

[Fruitbat]

You have illuminated an often passed by, but IMHO remarkable truth there Armap.

As far as I am aware a human thought is the only thing of no solidity or energy quantity that can neverthless engender real physical effects in the real world.

Thoughts are indeed the embodiment of "magic".

FB.

[Littleenki]

There are no new thoughts, human minds decipher and personalize what is in place through existing memory fields, then apply hands on to manifest pre existing visible matter into whatever device or machine.

Where thought is important is how the human heart and mind are tuned to receive and interpret such thoughts, beyond the original source which instilled them upon the infinite record of all mind.

What kind of antenna do you prefer, and what is really buried deep within that signal you are receiving?

I once thought Captain Kirk was the bees knees, still do, just not sure about that cowboy hat though......

[Somamech]

All great thought's

But on another token what if we keep needing these feeder thought's for "marginal gain's" as a way to progress or perhaps die-volve as may be the case LOL

I'm big into the study of Marginal Gain's at the moment.  I know a few of you like outdoor's adventure or racing in general and wondering about what you saw even ten years ago in any tech has improved amazingly.  Oddly though we don't really see the gain's year by year and most are dismissed as marketing ( and there is some truth in that too).  But if we compare say technology from ten years ago and skip the years in between we see how marginal gains were made once we understood how to apply idea's that have come from thought to a whole new understanding.

In saying all that I will tip my hat in favor of people who boldy brave new world's and explore

Heck if it wasn't for Beth, Zorgon and SG1 I may have never given any thought to the fact that I now know of two bonafide case's of old tribe's that clearly state their ancestor's came from a big hole in the ground.